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Dolphin provides comprehensive game management features for organizing your GameCube and Wii game collection. This guide covers importing games, managing the game list, and working with different disc formats.

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Supported Disc Formats

Dolphin supports multiple disc image formats:
ISO (Uncompressed)
  • Standard disc image format
  • No compression
  • Large file size
  • Fast loading
  • Best compatibility
RVZ format is recommended for new users as it offers the best balance of file size and loading speed.

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File Extensions

Dolphin recognizes these file extensions:
  • GameCube: .iso, .gcz, .gcm, .rvz, .wia, .ciso, .dol, .elf
  • Wii: .iso, .wbfs, .rvz, .wia, .wad, .dol, .elf

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Adding Games to Dolphin

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Configure Game Directories

1

Open Configuration

Navigate to Options > Configuration
2

Paths Tab

Click the Paths tab
3

Add Directory

Click Add in the ISO Directories section
4

Select Folder

Browse to the folder containing your game files and select it
5

Confirm

Click OK to save. Dolphin will scan this directory for games.
You can add multiple directories. Dolphin will scan all configured paths and display games in the game list.

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Directory Search Options

Configure how Dolphin searches for games:
  • Recursive Search: Scan subdirectories within configured paths
  • Auto Update: Automatically detect when new games are added

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Game List Interface

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View Modes

Dolphin offers different ways to display your game library:
Detailed list with columns showing:
  • Platform (GC/Wii)
  • Title
  • Description
  • Region
  • File Size
  • Game ID
  • Maker
  • File Name
Switch views via View menu or toolbar buttons.

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Customizing Columns

In Table View, customize which columns are displayed:
1

Right-click Header

Right-click any column header in the game list
2

Select Columns

Check or uncheck columns to show/hide:
  • Platform
  • Banner
  • Title
  • Description
  • Maker
  • File Name
  • File Path
  • Game ID
  • Region
  • File Size
  • File Format
  • Block Size
  • Compression
  • Tags

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Sorting Games

Sort your game library:
  1. Click any column header to sort by that column
  2. Click again to reverse sort order
  3. Hold Shift and click multiple columns for multi-level sorting

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Game Filtering

Filter which games appear in the list:

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Filter by Platform

View > Platforms:
  • GameCube: Show only GameCube games
  • Wii: Show only Wii games
  • WiiWare: Show WiiWare/Virtual Console titles
  • ELF/DOL: Show homebrew executables

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Filter by Region

View > Regions:
  • Japan (NTSC-J)
  • USA (NTSC-U)
  • Europe (PAL)
  • Australia
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Korea
  • Netherlands
  • Russia
  • Spain
  • Taiwan
  • World
  • Unknown
Use the search bar to filter games by:
  • Title
  • Game ID
  • Description
  • File name
Just start typing to instantly filter the list.

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Game Properties

Access detailed information and settings for individual games:
1

Right-click Game

Right-click any game in the game list
2

Select Properties

Choose Properties from the context menu

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Info Tab

View game information:
  • Game Name
  • Game ID
  • Country/Region
  • Maker/Publisher
  • File Details (path, size, format)
  • Apploader Date
  • Disc Number/Revision

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Game Config Tab

Override settings for this specific game:
  • Enable dual core
  • Enable MMU
  • CPU core type
  • Custom emulation speed
  • DSP emulation mode
Game-specific settings override global configuration but only apply to this game.

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Patches Tab

Apply binary patches to fix bugs or modify games:
  • View existing patches
  • Add new patches
  • Enable/disable patches

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Action Replay Codes Tab

Manage Action Replay cheat codes:
  • Add AR codes
  • Enable/disable individual codes
  • Download codes from database

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Gecko Codes Tab

Manage Gecko cheat codes:
  • Add Gecko codes
  • Enable/disable codes
  • Download from Gecko code database

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Filesystem Tab

Explore the game disc structure:
  • Browse disc filesystem
  • Extract files from disc
  • View file properties
  • Export entire filesystem
1

Open Filesystem

Navigate to the Filesystem tab in game properties
2

Browse Files

Expand folders to view disc contents
3

Extract Files

Right-click files or folders and select Extract to export them

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Verify Tab

Verify disc image integrity:
  • Check for corruption
  • Verify against known good dumps (Redump/No-Intro databases)
  • Calculate checksums (MD5, SHA-1, CRC32)

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Context Menu Options

Right-click any game for quick actions:

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Playback Options

  • Play: Start the game
  • Play (Record Input): Record gameplay for TAS
  • Change Disc: Change disc for multi-disc games

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File Operations

  • Open Containing Folder: Open file manager to game location
  • Delete File: Remove game from disk (with confirmation)

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Game Management

  • Properties: Open detailed game properties
  • Set as Default ISO: Set game to auto-load on Dolphin start
  • Compress ISO: Convert to RVZ or other compressed format
  • Convert File: Convert between disc formats

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Metadata

  • Edit Tags: Add custom tags for organization
  • Update Game Cover: Download or set custom cover art

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Game Covers and Metadata

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Custom Cover Art

Add custom cover images:
1

Right-click Game

Right-click the game in the list
2

Set Cover Image

Select Properties > Info > Cover section
3

Choose Image

Click … to browse for a cover image, or Dolphin can download one automatically
Cover images should be:
  • PNG or JPEG format
  • 160x224 pixels (GameCube) or 176x248 pixels (Wii) recommended
  • Named [GameID].png and placed in User/Cache/GameCovers/

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Game Tags

Organize games with custom tags:
1

Right-click Game

Right-click a game
2

Edit Tags

Select Edit Tags
3

Add Tags

Enter tags separated by commas (e.g., “Multiplayer, Racing, Favorite”)
Tags can be used to filter and organize your game library. Create tags like “Completed”, “Multiplayer”, “Favorites”, etc.

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Converting Disc Formats

Convert games between different formats:

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Using Dolphin GUI

1

Right-click Game

Right-click the game to convert
2

Convert File

Select Convert File
3

Choose Format

Select output format:
  • ISO (uncompressed)
  • GCZ (GameCube compressed)
  • WIA (compressed)
  • RVZ (recommended)
4

Configure Options

Set compression level and block size if applicable
5

Convert

Click Convert and wait for completion

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Using DolphinTool CLI

For batch conversion or scripting: 
dolphin-tool convert -i input.iso -o output.rvz -f rvz -c zstd -l 5
Options:
  • -f FORMAT: Output format (iso, gcz, wia, rvz)
  • -c COMPRESSION: Compression method (none, zstd, bzip, lzma)
  • -l LEVEL: Compression level (1-9, higher = better compression)
  • -b BLOCK_SIZE: Block size (131072 recommended for RVZ)
  • -s: Scrub (remove unused data)
RVZ with zstd compression level 5 provides excellent compression with fast decompression. Recommended settings: -f rvz -c zstd -l 5 -b 131072

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WAD Files (Wii Channels)

Install WiiWare, Virtual Console, and Wii Channels:
1

Open WAD Manager

Navigate to Tools > Install WAD
2

Select WAD

Browse to the .wad file to install
3

Install

Click Open to install to the emulated NAND
4

Launch from Menu

Installed titles appear in the Wii System Menu
Only install WAD files you legally own. Installing system menu WADs can brick your emulated NAND.

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Game List Settings

Configure game list behavior in Options > Configuration > Interface:
  • List Drives: Show physical disc drives in game list
  • List WAD Files: Show installed WAD files
  • List ELF/DOL Files: Show homebrew executables

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Refreshing the Game List

If new games don’t appear:
  1. Press F5 or select View > Refresh Game List
  2. Dolphin will rescan all configured directories
  3. New games will appear in the list
Dolphin automatically refreshes when you add or remove directories, but manual refresh may be needed if files are added while Dolphin is running.